Patrice
Meaning
from the Latin Patricius, meaning nobleman; famously borne by Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of an independent Congo, assassinated months after taking office.
The story
Patrice is the Latin patricius, nobleman, wearing its French tailoring, and it is a name living two lives at once. In France it is masculine: Patrice Lumumba, first prime minister of an independent Congo in June 1960, killed the following January; Patrice Evra, who lifted five Premier League titles and a Champions League with Manchester United. In the United States it settled as a feminine variant of Patricia: Patrice Rushen, the jazz pianist whose Forget Me Nots resurfaced inside 1997's Men in Black. The American ledger makes the split plain, 34,083 girls against 778 boys, nearly a third of those girls arriving in the 1950s alone. The reference books, tidy as ever, simply keep two entries, one for each life. One name, two wardrobes, and an ocean running through the middle of the closet.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Patrice peaked in the 1950s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
233 people · the #22,800 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 42
Among people named Patrice living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Patrice
People given the name Patrice in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Patrice deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Patrice truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Patrice fits with your family’s names and surname.
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